Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Oct 23, 2016 3:36 pm Just introducing myself, I've been watching these forums for a while but thought I better start up my own build thread.
We're building a modified version of Summit Homes 'The Orchard' in an established area in Perth's southern suburbs. We live in the suburb and didn't want to leave, but there are literally next to no vacant blocks around in our suburb. Neighbouring suburbs have them, but they're all subdivided small blocks which wasn't what we were looking for. So we've bought an old(ish) house on one of the largest blocks in the area (almost 1000m3) and already demolished it in preparation for the build. **Edit November 2017 - I notice Summit has changed the name of our house design to "The Grove", with only a few minor changes that I can notice.** **Edit October 2020 - The newest version of this basic floorplan is known as 'Edgewood', with some changes to the ceiling heights in family; kitchen overhead cupboards and scullery; ensuite window.. as far as I can notice** We signed our preliminary contracts just prior to the end of financial year, but the final plans only came through in early September, so things seem to have been taking some time. Unfortunately as it took so long we've had to re-apply to the bank for pre-approval for the build - a bit nerve wracking as we've already demolished the old house, so no idea what we'd do if its knocked back! Since our original finance approval I've gone on maternity leave, and as I type I'm wearing my 6 week old in a carrier LOL. We also have two 5 year olds (hence the need to build a bigger house!). The pre-approval came through on Friday but still waiting on a valuation, also nerve-wracking...! Anyway, we loved the more traditional exterior of The Orchard, combined with the fact that all the living area is at the back. Our block is on a corner and backs onto a tree lined creek reserve, so we wanted to make the most of the rear views. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ The front of our house faces east, so the living areas face west and minor bedrooms face north. The southerly side of the house will be right next to the neighbour's fence, with all the outdoor space to the rear and north (right) side. The major changes we've made are: - adding a store to the garage - stretching the whole house by ~2.5m to add in a study. This also had the effect of increasing the size of the master suite (and WIR) and theatre - shifting the doorway to the laundry to include an extra cupboard/bench area which I will use for things like the coffee machine - switching the location of the toilet and shower in the ensuite to allow a door to be put on the ensuite - double doors to the theatre - door/s to the hallway (still in discussion about the door to the living/dining). We've got our meeting with the interior design consultants tomorrow, and pre-start in two weeks. I am not great with decision making, or design, so am finding it hard to commit to choices! I'll update this thread with my colour choices once we make them EDIT TO ADD KEY DATES: 17/6/16 - Settlement 28/6/16 - Preparation of Plans Agreement signed 16/8/16 - Demolition complete (by our contractor) 5/9/17 - Preliminary Contract Drawings Received 30/9/16: Contract Signed 24/10/16: Design Consultation 7/11/16: Pre-start Meeting 16/12/16: BAL Consultant Report completed 7/3/17: Geotech Report completed 8/3/17: Council Approval / Building Permit issued 6/4/17: Site surveying 19/4/17: Slab Concreting 5/5/17: Bricklaying Commenced 13/6/17: Rendering 20/6/17: Roof Carpentry Commenced 22/6/17: Water meter moved for power dome (but pipework not moved, therefore does not meet power company requirements) 10/7/17: Roof Cover 17/7/17: Plastering Starts 4/8/17: Cabinets installed / benches installed / sinks installed / lock up 10/8/17: Garage Grano 14/8/17: Tiling Commenced 25/8/17: Tiling Completed 12/9/17: Water services relocated for power dome install 13/9/17: All internal and external work completed, except jobs that need the power install to be completed first (paving, internal electrical commissioning, garage door install, external painting). 26/10/17: Power company identified new gas connection installed in power dome exclusion zone, need to move 15/11/17: Gas line moved 18/11/17: Power dome installed 23/11/17: Power connected to meter box 24/11/17: Paving work started Re: New Home - Summit Homes 'The Orchard' - Perth SOR 2Oct 23, 2016 3:57 pm Hi Spiffmiff, Your plans look great. Is your interior design appointment with La Vie Interiors? Looking forward to following your build. Stilettos & Bricks, our Building Journey Blog - https://stilettosbricks.com Building thread - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=85183&hilit=secret+harbour Stilettos & Bricks -our Building Journey Blog https://stilettosbricks.com viewtopic.php?f=31&t=85183&hilit=secret+harbour Re: New Home - Summit Homes 'The Orchard' - Perth SOR 3Oct 23, 2016 4:04 pm Yea La Vie. Did u see them too? If so any tips? Re: New Home - Summit Homes 'The Orchard' - Perth SOR 4Oct 23, 2016 5:16 pm Haven't seen them yet. I have heard they are very good though. Take lots of pictures with you on the day to give them an idea of your style and what look you are wanting. Im particularly struggling with our external colours, kitchen layout and tile choices so hoping they can assist. Any chance you could post an update after your consult please? Keen to know your thoughts on them. Stilettos & Bricks, our Building Journey Blog - https://stilettosbricks.com Building thread - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=85183&hilit=secret+harbour Stilettos & Bricks -our Building Journey Blog https://stilettosbricks.com viewtopic.php?f=31&t=85183&hilit=secret+harbour Re: New Home - Summit Homes 'The Orchard' - Perth SOR 5Oct 28, 2016 11:43 pm We had our consultation with the designers (La Vie) on Monday. I was really happy with the experience, and have come away happy with the choices we made. We met with two designers who went through step by step each thing we need to make decisions on. They have heaps of samples and brochures available to look through, and seemed very professional while being friendly, and made us feel relaxed and confident. I was happy with their suggestions though I should say that I am terrible with colours and things like that so I am not the most critical of clients! We took heaps of tile samples in with us, which was the only thing they didn't have a big range of. So I definitely recommend going in with some different options if you're not 100% sure. We also brought in our flooring sample as we'll be doing wood floors post-handover. But they had printed large copies of our plans, had loaded up pictures of our display home for reference, and one of the designers took notes (of all our choices) on our addenda which she sent through. You mention exterior. One thing I hadn't realised is that since we got our prestart booklet, Summit have changed from Brikmakers bricks to Midland Brick! They still use Brikmakers paving tho *shrug*. I was really unsure of exterior colours too but I think I am happy now Have you booked in your appointment yet, Ms Prez? Re: New Home - Summit Homes 'The Orchard' - Perth SOR 6Oct 29, 2016 5:30 pm Thanks heaps for the info spiffmiff, really appreciate the tips and im glad it went well for you. Hubby is back at work on Monday for 2 weeks so will arrange a time when he is back. What colours did you end up going with for your exterior? Stilettos & Bricks, our Building Journey blog - http://stilettosbricks.com Our Build Thread - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=85183 Stilettos & Bricks -our Building Journey Blog https://stilettosbricks.com viewtopic.php?f=31&t=85183&hilit=secret+harbour Re: New Home - Summit Homes 'The Orchard' - Perth SOR 7Nov 24, 2016 1:12 pm A little update... We have had our prestart which went really well. But since then there has been a spanner in the works - BAL assessment has come back at BAL40, which Summit do not do!! So we're trying to find a way forward with an additional assessment. Seems crazy to me that in the middle of the suburbs, firebreak behind the back fence and fire hydrant across the street, that we have the same bushfire rating as if we were in the middle of a forest in the middle of nowhere. Anyway, trying not to freak out. Meanwhile the additional delay means the time we have to pay two mortgages drags out.... sigh. Re: New Home - Summit Homes 'The Orchard' - Perth SOR 9Dec 21, 2016 10:17 am Actually we've just heard back from the second consultant's report (there are different levels of assessment, the first assessment was a basic desktop survey that was extremely conservative)... Thank goodness its been assessed as BAL29, which means we can move forward. We only received the updated pre-start variation estimates yesterday though (I think they put our project on hold until the BAL was confirmed), so we'll confirm those changes this week. Thanks for asking Re: New Home - Summit Homes 'The Orchard' - Perth SOR 10Dec 21, 2016 10:36 am Wow thats great to hear We got an "unexpected" BAL rating too of 12.5 (we should have expected it though). I think our timeline isnt far from yours, here's hoping for a smooth and quick start in 2017! Re: New Home - Summit Homes 'The Orchard' - Perth SOR 11Jan 31, 2017 9:33 pm More delays... need to adjust the size of the store as the way it sits on the block means the front wall of the store is 500mm too close to the boundary so needs shifting back. According to council. I don't know why its not counted as part of the garage which has different rules??! Re: New Home - Summit Homes 'The Orchard' - Perth SOR 13Jan 31, 2017 10:27 pm Sorry to hear about the delays! We've just had our plans submitted to council (Town of Vic Park), and I must say I am a little nervous as to whether we'll get approval. We are (very mildly) non-compliant in a couple of areas. How have you found Summit so far? I'm pretty happy, but my planning related discussions with them have never really filled me with a great deal of confidence. Hopefully, it's just my nerves and I will be shown to have had nothing to worry about. Love your plan, by the way -- it's a really thoughtfully laid-out design. Re: New Home - Summit Homes 'The Orchard' - Perth SOR 14Jan 31, 2017 11:15 pm Hi MJB, we knew from early on it would have BAL requirements and BAL29 was assumed for the prelim estimate. Its approx $10k on top for our house, but we already had steel roof beams and Colour bond roofing included. Re: New Home - Summit Homes 'The Orchard' - Perth SOR 15Jan 31, 2017 11:23 pm echo_base Sorry to hear about the delays! We've just had our plans submitted to council (Town of Vic Park), and I must say I am a little nervous as to whether we'll get approval. We are (very mildly) non-compliant in a couple of areas. How have you found Summit so far? I'm pretty happy, but my planning related discussions with them have never really filled me with a great deal of confidence. Hopefully, it's just my nerves and I will be shown to have had nothing to worry about. Love your plan, by the way -- it's a really thoughtfully laid-out design. Good luck with your plans! We're pretty happy with Summit, though thimgs seem to take forever with quoting and drafting so I feel like they could use more resources to speed things up. Also they seem to work sequentially not in parallel. This may just be that I am impatient tho LOL!! We've not encountered or expected much in the way of planning issues so no real comment there... our house shouldnt vbe controversial. This is the first planning issue to come up.... Re: New Home - Summit Homes 'The Orchard' - Perth SOR 17Feb 05, 2017 1:48 am Hi spiffmiff, the house plans look great. All the best for your build Follow our build with Express Two Storey (Ventura Group): viewtopic.php?f=31&t=85122 Re: New Home - Summit Homes 'The Orchard' - Perth SOR 18Feb 05, 2017 7:57 am I absolutely love your floor plan, how big is it? Following along GJ Gardner Modified Coolum 277 viewtopic.php?t=83643 Re: New Home - Summit Homes 'The Orchard' - Perth SOR 19Mar 01, 2017 2:51 am jpmontoya It comes down to the sales person you are dealing with, we built with them and found them very efficient Unfortunately I think you're right. Turns out a colleague of hubby had the same consultant and similar issues. Good news is her actual build apparently went very well Re: New Home - Summit Homes 'The Orchard' - Perth SOR 20Mar 01, 2017 2:52 am mrsdoe Hi spiffmiff, the house plans look great. All the best for your build Thanks!! Hi there! Putting the feelers out there for those who have (or almost) built with Arli homes! Interested in your experiences who've built from their stock home designs… 0 23482 Ask for references and speak to them. If they are defensive or try to avoid the request, walk. 1 74701 I would never build with Fowler homes. I built with them in 2021 and till date maintenance issues are pending. All their existing trades and businesses don't work with… 14 105551 |